Question

Town 1 and Town 2 are situated 8 km apart on the bank of a river. The school and the church are 5 km apart situated on the other bank of the river. The market is situated 20 km away from the school, as shown below. How far is the school from town 1?

Answer 1

I think it's related to similar triangles. Take the triangles with vertices Market, School, Church and Market, Town 1, Town 2. The angle at Market for both triangles must be the same, since it is the same angle. Since the River lines are parallel, the angles at School and Town 1, Church and Town 2 are the same too. Thus, the triangles are similar, 20/5 = Dist. between Market and Town 1/8. You get 32, so the distance between the school and Town 1 is 32 - 20 = 12 :)

Answer 2

oooooh makes sense :o thank you